Flood-fence



"(Model.)-

1: H. MERRILL.

WWW

Wj 4 H MW I. a

BY .A A'M 9 ATTORNEYS.

N. PUERS. Pholotithograpiwn Withingtnm O. C,

V v v f A UNITE STATES:

ATENT tr es.

,HENRY D. MERRILL, OF SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS.

FLOOD-FENCE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 289,682, dated December 4, 1883.

' Applieationfiled Junel9,1882. (Model-l To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, HENRY DEARBORNE MERRILL, of Springfield, in the. county of Sangamon and State of Illinois, haveklinvented a new and useful Improvement in Flood-Fences, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 is a plan view of my improvement. Fig. 2 is a sectional side elevation of the same.

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of a part of the ame, partly in section through the line 3 y,

The object of this invention is to provide flood-fences constructed to turn down into a horizontal position and allow ice, logs, and other rubbish floating in the water to pass over the said fence-without injuring it, the fence returning to an erect position as soon as the water subsides.

The invention relates to a flood-fence constructed with mud-sills staked to the bottom of the stream, and connected at their downstream ends, by pairs of posts, with the up,

Erardly-inclined downstream ends of breakars.

Between the posts works a shaft provided with pickets, and having attached to it the lower ends of suspending-chains, whereby the shaft will be turned up on the chains and raised as the pickets are forced downward by a rise of water, so that the weight of the shaft will raise. the pickets when the water subsides.

Upon the mud-sills, and against the upstream-posts,is placed a stop-sill,having stakes driven into the ground at its upper side, to prevent brush placed upon the bottom of the stream above thesaid sill and stakes from being carried downstream by the water, the said brush being kept in place by bars secured to the ground and to the stop-sill, as will be hereinafter fully described.

A are mud-sills, which are mortised to receive the stakes by which they are secured to the ground at the bottom of the stream. B are inclined beams, which are designed to break any large cakes of ice that may be passing downstream, and thus prevent the fence from being carried away. The upstream ends of the beams B are mortised to receive the stakes by which the said beams are secured to the ground at the bottom of the stream. The downstream ends of the beams B are secured to the upper ends of two short posts, 0, set in the ground at the bottom of the stream, and

at a little distance from each other. The inclined beams B at the sides of the stream are further secured in place by stay-beams D, the

inner ends of which are framed to the said inclined beams B near their downstream ends. The outer ends of the stay-beams D are secured to posts E, driven into the banks of the stream.

To the stay-beams D are attached the upper ends of stakes F, the lower ends of which are driven into the banks of the stream in an upstream direction. The stakes F are designed to prevent the banks at the ends of the fence from being washed away.

G is the fence-shaft, .to which are attached the lower ends of parallel pickets 1-1. The shaft G can be made in one piece, or in sections secured to each other by slotted metal straps I, bolted to the opposite sides of the adjacent ends of the said sections, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3; or the sections of the shaft G can be connected by universal joints, as may be desired.

To the lower part of the shaft G are attached the lower ends of chains J, which pass aroundv the downstream side of the said shaft, and are attached at their upper ends to theinclined beams B, or to rods K, attached to the posts 0.

With this construction, when the water rises, the increased pressure forcesthe pickets H down into a horizontal position, turning the shaft G upon the chains J and raising the said shaft into the position shown in-dotted lines in'Fig. 2. As the water subsides the weight of the shaft G causes it to unwind the,

, a stop to the brush N, which is placed above them, and is held-down upon the bottom of the stream by bars O, the downstream ends of IOO -' 2 Y estates ground at the bottom of the stream. The

brush N stops the sediment in the water and causes the bottom of the stream to fill to alevel with the top of the stop-sill L, so that all rubbish floating in the water will pass over the fence without injuring it.

P are bars, the upstream ends of which are spiked or pinned to the inner sides of the break-beams B. The downstream ends of the bars P are spiked or pinned to theposts 0, below the break-beams B, so that the bars P will close the spaces between the break-beams B and the mud-sills A and prevent rubbish from lodging in the said spaces.

In building the fence the shaft G and pickets H are so balanced that the weight of the said shaft will hold the said pickets erect when the water is at its ordinary level. When the water rises, the increased pressure of the water inclines the pickets I-I downward, and, in connection with the weight of the pickets and the buoyancy of the shaft G, turns the fence into and holds it in a horizontal position as long as the rise of the water continues. When the water subsides to its ordinary level, the shaft G becomes the heavier and raises the fence into an upright position.

WVhen the stream to which the fence is to be applied has a solid-rock bottom, the rock is drilled and the timbers are secured in place by bolts. When the rock is two or three feet below the surface, the mud-sills A are used, and the said mud-sills and the brush N are weighted in place by stones.

When the fence is built on a sand, grave], or clay bottom, the sill A in many. cases need not be used. In this case the posts 0 are set deep in the ground and the fence staked to the bottom, as hereinbefore described.

I am aware that a water-bed fence has been formed of slats downwardly inclined up the stream, the same being supported on a crossbar upon posts, and by anchor-timbers; also, that my Patent N o. 265, 847 describes and shows a picket flood-fence with the pickets made fast to a head or bar adapted to rise and fall with the water between posts; but

What I do claim as new and of my invention is In aflood-fence, the combination of a picketshaft G, loosely arranged between posts 0 O, and an upstream inclined frame, L O, the part L being flush with or slightly above the pick ct-shaft, whereby floating ice, logs, or other drift will be guided so as to strike the pickets, and not their shaft, which will thereby be saved from injury or being carried away.

HENRY D. MERRILL.

Witnesses:

WV. H. WHITNEY, FRANK I-IILLERMAN. 

